How to Clean Your Hardwood Floors
There are many people who love the look of their hardwood floors. However, they may still be confused on the proper ways to clean them. Hardwood flooring can become dirty or marked, and you’re not going to be able to wet-mop it like other types of flooring. So how should you clean it?
Basic Maintenance of a Hardwood Floor
To help keep water and dirt off of your new hardwoods, position mats and rugs around the areas that are near doorways or where the majority of the traffic is. This can help keep you from having to clean as often and therefore can extend the life of your hardwood flooring. Don’t forget to place floor protectors under all the furniture to help keep scrapes and scratches from sliding couches and tables off your floors. After these precautions are taken then you can move to the various cleaning methods for your type of floor.
Caring for your Hardwoods
No matter what type of hardwood flooring you have, you first should dust the floor with a special floor duster. This can pick up items that may harm your floor’s surface area like dust and dirt. For weekly cleaning of the floor, vacuum with an electric broom or a floor-brush attachment. Vacuums with a beater can scratch and harm floors. For the environmentally conscious owners with bamboo flooring, you’ll be happy with how durable the floors are, but still treat them as if they are more delicate like pine flooring.
How to Deep Clean Your Hardwood Floors
To deep clean a floor once a year, dilute a wood-cleaner product in water. Saturate it fully and then wring it out to be nearly dry. Use that to damp-mop the floor and then rinse if necessary. Make sure you wipe all the excess fluid from the wood so that it will not damage the wood. Adding fans or turning on a ceiling fan can aid in drying so that it can evaporate before it can damage.
These are good guidelines for basic cleaning of hardwood flooring. If you are needing to get rid of stains or marks on your hardwood floors, then you’re going to need something a bit more extreme. You may need to refinish and reseal the floors. Keep in mind that a good protective barrier of urethane may help keep water and other stains from permeating into the wood’s surface. Ask your hardwood flooring installer about basic care and maintenance for your particular flooring. Seek the help and advice from professionals if you have a deep set-in stain. Never use abrasives or steel wool on a stain as you may end up permanently damaging your floors.
